Arts Centre Vooruit, Ghent, Belgium

In this Salon we’ll be offering two guests a seat: Austrian Carlos Katastrophsky and Frenchman Cristophe Bruno, both web artists.

Carlos Katastrophsky belongs to the young Austrian ‘internet based art’ – or netart -scene currently creating a buzz. In his work he researches production, distribution and consumption of Internet art, and how typical practices of the art world such as curating, selling and exhibiting art can be applied to the virtual landscape. Katastrophsky’s work is conceptual and uses Internet features like software, interfaces and message boards. In his work Russian roulette for example, shooting is replaced by downloading. In Go for the original, not the copy he employs a web procedure to create unique pieces of Internet art.

Cristophe Bruno is a net artist with an impressive resume. He’s won several prizes, among which were the ARCO new media award in Madrid (2007) and the Ars Electronica Prize (2003). Cristophe Bruno’s hobbyhorses include language and communication and how they relate to money and the Internet. In this Salon, he will mainly talk about his newest project, Logo.Hallucination. With this online search engine he tracks down hidden logos in works of art and online images and tries to find out whether these images violate copyright law. On www.logohallucination.com you’ll see the weirdest results, like the Atari logo in a Vermeer painting or a tribal African mask in McDonalds’ golden arches.